Steve Jobs in secret NYT meet

Apple boss Steve Jobs had a secret meeting with New York Times' publisher Arthur Sulzberger and other executives to show off the iPad and explain what he thinks it means for publishing.

Jobs ordered a mango lassi and penne pasta, neither of which are on the Pranna restaurant menu, New York magazine reported.

Jobs, apparently wearing “a very funny hat — a big top hat kind of thing", said he read the New York Times online everyday, but still preferred to pick up the paper edition on Sundays.

The paper remains nervous of signing exclusive rights over to Apple - it already has a deal with Amazon to put the paper on the Kindle.

The paper is also moving, very slowly, to charge for its online content. In that regard, it's following the Wall Street Journal in particular and the rest of the Murdoch empire in general.

There's no news on whether a strangely-titfer'd Jobs has been spotted at Murdoch Towers. While Jobs might be able to exploit his Jedi mind tricks to get the NYT to submit to the sort of control regime Apple prefers, Murdoch might prove a rather harder negotiator. ®